Improvement in nail-plate feeders



J. R. FINNEY.v

E EAIL-EE'ATE EEEEEE. No. 173,931, niguna EeE.EE,1a'ze.

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UNITED N".Sfr-A'rEs JosEPE E. EINNEY, 0E PITTsBUEe, PENNSYLVANIA.

PATENT OEErcEo IMPROVEMENT IN NAIL-PLATE FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,93 l dated February 22, 1876 application filed f June 22, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH R. FINNEY,

`of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new `and useful Improvement in Nail-Plate Feeders, and I do hereby declare the following tol `be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, `reference being had to the accompanying `drawing forming a part of this specilication 5 i .in which- Iiigure lis a. vertical longitudinal sectionj of my improved devices for feeding nail-plates,

shown in connection with a nail-machine.

IFig. 2 isan enlarged viewof a portion of the i devices. Fig. 3 is a transverse section ou the line wm, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is al transverse section on the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section of? .the-feeding-tube anda swiveled uipper. `Fig.`

6 is a transverse section of the plate-box. Fig.`7 is a detached view of the camsand `cam-yokes.

Like letters refer to like .parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to automatic-feeding .devices-for.nail-cutting machines,"'and is au` improvement on the invention described in LettersPatent No. 148,200, granted to me March 3,1874; and consists, first, in' operating the ymoving-lever or oscillating-frame of the feed devices from the-shaft of the nail-machine by means of a cam or cams vkand cam-yokes and` suitable intermediate connections, whereby a` `positivefeed is obtained independent of the cutting or heading devices secondly, in combining with the feeding-tube a-loose `pinion combining with the driving-pinion of the feeding-rack an adjustable' pawl and-rocking- -lever, wherebyl` the feed of the nail-plate may f be increased or decreased at pleasure; and,

nally, in details of construction hereinafter specified.

The object of my invention is to automatically feed the nail-plates to nail-machines of the ordinary-forms of construction, by a coinbination of mechanical devices which seize the plates, hold them safely in theV proper position,.rotate the plate `being fed one-half turn for each downward movement of -the cutting jaw, and feed it between the jaws the proper distance'and at the proper angle for the manufacture of the size and shape of nail desired.

I will now proceed to specifically describe V my invention,- so that others skilled in the art to which yit appertains may apply the same.

In the drawing, X indicates a laterally or horizontally adjustable frame, pivoted at its forward portion to the bed of a nail-machine, `preferably directly under the cutter, as at a', and within said frame is pivoted an oscillatingframe or moving-lever, E, which carries the operative device. Upon the shaft of an ordinary nail-cutting machine is secured a cam, B, `having-uponvits side an auxiliaryl cam, B', the throw of the portion B operatin g upon the rear faceA of a yoke, 0,'while the throwl of B yoperates upon the opposite face of the camyoke, said yoke being connected, through the intermediate pitman D, with the oscillatingframe E. The cam B is of such form as `to act upon the' yoke during the greater part of the revolution of shaft A, so as to draw forward the feeding devices and hold the plate beneath the cutter until it has completed its stroke, thus insuring a positive and regular feed. As soon as cam vB has ceased to operate upon the yoke, cam Blv forces back the feeding devices during the rotation of the plat-e.; Ou theforward part of the oscillatingframe Eis a sleeve, C, for the receptionof a feed or plate tube, K, and in rear thereof is a bracket forthe feeding-rack and its pinion. K is a feed-tube constructed as at k, with inclines for guiding and steadying ythe nailplate and directing it into slot U', and provided with a pinion, J, having a pawl which takes into a series of ratchets upon the exterior of tube K, permitting the pinion to move independentlyof `the tube in one direction.

-the oscillating-frame E at s. ceives its motion from the frame E, and oper- Upon the oscillating-frame, at a point between the tugbe K and the feeding mechanism, and in line therewith, is the platebox F, within which is placed the spring platen or false bottom f for supporting the nail-plates. In the side of box F is a door, d, connected to the spring-bottom f by a lchain or rope which passes around a sheave within the box, so that when the door d is opened the spring-bottom f is drawn down ready to receive the nailplates, the springs close the door and carry the pla-tes up against the feed plate or tongs L, which may be said to act as the cover of the feed-box. L is the feed-plate, fitted at its free extremity with a disk, M, the upper `portion of which may be permanently attached to the plate, but the lower portion of M should be hinged `so as to have a free latch-motion forward, vthat it may lift and pass over the .plates in box 'F on the return-movement of' .taking against the end of a plate at each forward movement and passing over the plates on the return-movement. O is a rack supported in a bracket or guide in therear of the moving-lever or oscillating-frame E, and in line with the feeding-tube and platebox. Meshing into rack 0 are two pinionsP and R, the pinion P provided with a ratchetwheel, Q, operated by a pawl, h, pivoted to the extremity of a lever, G,and retained in place by a spring, t', made fast to the oscillating-frame E. This pinion is mutilated to allow the rack O to become disengaged upon the completion of the revolution of the pinion. The pinion R is provided with a coiled spring, one end of which is secured to the axis of the pinion and the other to the drum, so that the spring is wound up by the forward movement of the rack, and serves to reverse the pinion and retract the rack when the latter is re.- leased by the pinion I. G is a lever, adjusta- -bly pivoted in the rocking-frame H, which serves as a fulcrum therefor, and pivoted to This lever reates the rack I, which is pivoted to one end, and the pawl lz., which is secured at or near its opposite end, thus serving to operate both the feed and ,plate-rotatingidevices. By ad- .justing lever (nl in rocking-frame H, the throw of pawl h and rack I may be varied to vary ,the feed according to the size of the plate and nail. The motion transmitted to the feeding devices may be regulated by changing the point of attachment between the moving-lever A ,or oscillatingframe E and the connecting-rod D, and the amount of feed may be varied by adjusting the pawl k so as to increase or diminish its leverage. Y 'l2-he operation of these devices is as follows:

. The door of the plate-box is opened and draws down the false or spring bottom, upon which the nail-platesare then placed, and the action of the raises one arm of lever G, thereby depressing the other and -drawing down rack I, revolvingpinion J, upon feedingtube K. As soon as cam B leaves the rear face of the cam-yoke, cam B engages with the opposite face of the yoke, so as to rock the oscillating-frame E away from the nail-machine and raise the feeding-tube K, and this motion of frame E is transmitted by lever G to rack I, which causes the pinion J and (through its pawl) tube K to -make one-half-of a revolution, thus turning the nail-plate before it is again presented to the cutter. While the rack I has been operating the feed-tube K, the opposite end of lever G, in its downward movement,'has caused the pawl h to change its position with. relation to the ratchet Q, so that when cam B again rocks the frame E forward the pinion P will be turned so as to drive rack O forward, and with it the plateL, the latch N of which catches the outer end of the upper plate in box F; thus feeding down the nail-plate with the same motion that presents it to the cutter. When the mutilated portion of pinion P comes opposite the rack O, the rack is at once disengaged from the pinion and is retracted by the spring-pinion R, so as to be in position tol feed down the next plate.

It is evident that the method adopted for.

rotating the plate may be employed with different feeding mechanism from that shown. Also, that the feeding mechanism (t. e. the rack and pinion feed as specified) may be used with the well-known nippers (as illustrated in Fig. 5) without departing from the spirit of my invention, as all that is necessary is to detach feeding-plate L and secure the nippers to rack O, the box F being likewise removed and the plate placed in the nippers in the" ordinary way.

I do not claim broadly operating the feed mechanism from the main shaft, nor do I claim operating the feed mechanism fr'om the main shaft by means'of gearing and crank-arms, as

I am aware such mechanism has heretofore been employed for the purpose specified; but,

Having thus described my invention, what vthe plate or feed-tube, the loose pinion and pawl, and the rack, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the feeding-rack, the mutilated pinion for feeding the rack forward, and the pinion having a coiled spring;` for retracting the rack, substantialbT as and for the purpose' specified.

4. The combination of the movinglever or oscillating-frame, the feeding-rack and its driv` ing-pinion, and suitable intermediate mechanism for operating the feeding-rack from the oscillating-frame, substantially as speci lied.

l5. The combination of the feeding-rack and its driving-pinion, the adjustable pawl-lever and paw1,and therocking-lever or oscillatingframe, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

JOSEPH R. FINNEY.

' Witnesses T. B. KEER, J AMES I. KAY. 

